Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We always are telling you about great things happening in
the community, and this week a great show that you
may not have heard about, you might not be aware of,
but it is an awesome show at the Orpheum and
it is called Kimberly Akimbo. And joining us is one
of the cast members, Emily Cook, who plays Debra in
the actual play. And first off, Emily, thanks so much
(00:21):
for being on our show today.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Okay, So, the Kimberly at Kimbo is a show that
might be a name that people may not be like,
Oh yeah, that's like my fir lady, right, or that's
like funny girl. Right. This is totally This is a
This is a very new show and I mean you
can tell how contemporary it is based solely on how
the story is written in the dialogue and the song.
(00:45):
So tell me about Kimberly Akimbo as a show.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Kimberly Akimbo is the story about a sixteen year old
girl who has a fictional genetic disorder that ages her
body four to five times natural rate. So she's sixteen,
but she's played by a sixty five year old and
it's kind of about her life in high school and
(01:11):
dealing with a dysfunctional family family, and dealing with making
new friends and falling in like with people and living
your life to the fullest to make sure that you
utilize the time that you have. So it's pretty universal
in that sense that you know, it's stuff we all
go through. It's just through this kind of zany, quirky
(01:34):
lens that makes it really really fun and beautiful.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
This show also was award winning. I made sure to
mention that when I said I was going to Opening
Night the other night, I said, Hey, I this show,
you know, won a handful of Tony's just a couple
of years ago. That has to mean something. What about
this show makes it so easy to consume? Because I mean,
it is a Broadway show, so we know that there's
(01:59):
obviously talent on the stage and in the writing, but
there's something just about the way this story flows that
made it, you know, on the radar. And then one
awards just a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Absolutely, yeah, we won five Tony's, which was so thrilling
and so exciting, and I was lucky enough to be
part of the Broadway cast as well, so that was
an incredible night. But I think It's something that our
director often said was that, you know, Kimberly much like life.
It's like, you know, something becomes a little too sweet,
you throw a little lemon juice on it. Something becomes
(02:32):
a little sour, you throw a little sugar on it.
And so I feel like that's the relatability of the story,
is that life is constantly you know, a balance between
crying and laughing and laughing while crying, and crying while laughing.
And I feel like Kimberly walks that delicate line so
beautifully in a way that people really respond to, which
(02:55):
is really great.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
So we're speaking with Emily Cook, who plays Debra in
the Broadway musical that is in town at the Orphum
called Kimberly Akimbo. You mentioned you were on Broadway with this,
and that's I mean, this is a small cast. I mean,
I think nine people are on the stage in total
throughout this entire you know, musical, which is a difficult
(03:19):
thing to pull off. You know, you might be thinking
about all the big casts and all the different dancers
and singers that many of these other plays that we've
seen at the Orpheum have, but this is a very
tidy cast. That is able to tell this entire story
with just the nine of you, and you guys have also,
you know, been together since the beginning in a lot
of ways. So can you talk about just the continuation
(03:41):
or the continuity that this cast has had from the
Broadway to now the national tour, because we don't usually
get to see a show this fresh, this new, that
still has some of the original cast members a part
of it.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah. Absolutely, it's been I've been in bigger shows like
I did Wicket for years, I did Waitress Tree years,
and there's something so refreshing about walking out there without
you know, we're in street clothes, we're in like I'm
wearing sweatpants and hiking boots the whole show. And there's
something about walking out there with so few people and
(04:16):
just knowing that we're all in service of the same goal,
which you are in big shows too, but I feel
like it's more fractalized, like you know, the dancers are dancing,
the leads are guiding you through the story, the singers
are saying, you know, this is all of us doing
all of it together, and it's really exciting and really
(04:36):
refreshing to be able to look people directly in the
eye and be like, I have done this with you
hundreds of times. You know, it's really been a special experience.
And we're all very very close, which is really really fun.
And it's cool because we're so many different ages, you know,
so like some of my newest best friends are twenty
(04:56):
years older than me or ten years younger than me,
which is really cool thing that Kimberly brings out that's
very specific to this show.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
It's really interesting. Like you mentioned, the lead is you know,
you're talking about a girl who is in high school
of turning sixteen but actually is aging much faster than
the average person. And it adds a lot of you know,
feeling of like what life is and never taking anything
for granted. But you mentioned something that you did before
(05:28):
that I just have to touch on here, and it's Wicked.
You were in Wicked. Can you tell talk to me
about to me about Wicked and how you feel about
seeing that character and what character you played getting all
this publicity on the big screen now in the movies,
and what did you think about that entire thing. Knowing
(05:50):
you have such an intimate relationship with the show.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
That's just been incredible. I mean to see Wicked have
even more reach than it already. Don has just been spectacular,
and like I felt like I wasn't even a person
who had played Alphaba watching the movie. I felt like
I was a fan of the show, like a you know,
a sixteen year old kid watching it for the first time.
(06:15):
So I'm so glad that I thought the movie was
absolutely incredible. I can't wait for the second one. And yeah,
I think it was so interesting. I didn't even feel
like I was a part of it watching it, which
I think, like is the biggest compliment I could possibly give.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Uh So for a clarification for anybody hasn't seen it, Alpha,
but that's like the main character, right, Yes, yeah, it's
like that's the Wicked Witch of the West. That's exactly.
You know, I couldn't imagine, you know, having that big
of a role, and then you see it being performed
like that and just kind of what those emotions would
be like. And now you're in such a completely different
(06:55):
type of role. You're just kind of the crazy ants.
Tell me about Deborah a little bit about how Deborah
kind of is portrayed on the stage with Kimberly Akimbo.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Exactly. Yeah, truly couldn't be more different. Debra is exactly
what you said, your total crazy ant, which I feel
like we all have. She is bombastic, she's bold, you know,
she's brazen, she's funny, she loves her niece, even if
she has a weird wing way of showing it. She
(07:27):
might be a little bit of a criminal. You'll have
to come see the show to see where that factor's in.
But she's pretty inspiring.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Honestly, well, she's hilarious. Emily Cook joining us on our
phone line here, who plays debor in Kimberly Akimbo playing
through the weekend at the Orpheum. One of the great
things about this play is you're not quite sure like
this production has great music. The music goes a long
way to like moving the dialogue along, which also is
(07:58):
you know important. I think for somebody like me who
knew nothing about this show going into it, what about
the music makes it stand out as well because the
songs aren't written like pop songs would be, with you know,
like structured verse chorus, verst chorus, like you would see
when you go to a musical that you know, uses
the music of Abba or something like that. This is
like these are really songs that really push forward the
(08:22):
dialogue and the character development of everybody involved. What about
the music makes it special for this show?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
The music is probably my favorite part. I've been a
huge fan of Jinine Tassori, who wrote the music, and
David Lindsay Abert, who wrote the lyrics for so long,
from all of their other stuff, and it just it
feels like every character has such an individual sound, which
I think is pretty rare in musical these days. Like
(08:50):
you know when Kim is singing, you know when Seth
is singing, you know, endevor singing, Like they all have
such different cadences. And I feel like my music is
really like forward but seductive, but you know, interesting and playful,
and I feel like Kim's is more melancholy and hopeful
(09:12):
and beautiful, and so I just think that that guides
people down the story without us even having to try
to do anything, which is really amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
It definitely for me, it was. It was a huge
part of why the entire musical works was just because
the music moves the story in such interesting places, and
there's certain moments in there that you're listening to a
song and you're not sure if you're supposed to applaud
or not because of the emotion that's kind of been
delivered with that. Now, speaking of emotions exactly, that's what
(09:43):
that's what we want to hear well, And that's the thing.
There was a moment in there, and I don't want
to spoil anything for people who haven't seen the show,
but like a song ended, it was a very clear
end too, a song, and you could hear a pin
drop in the in the orpheum because people just were
not sure. I don't think I'm to clap for that
that was and I don't think you are. It was
(10:03):
just incredible the way that it was performed. But I
wanted to finish up emily because for emotions on your
personal life, you're actually with somebody who care deeply about
on this cast, you haven't been able to get away
from this person who happens to be playing Buddy who
is Kim's dad in the actual show. You guys are
actually dating, Is that right?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yes? Have been for seven years.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
How does that work? On the road?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Honestly, it's been really great, Like at knock On Wood,
you know, with a Valentine's Stay coming up, I don't
want to jinx anything. But it's been really really great.
We've toured together before. That's how we met was doing
the Waycress tour that came through Omaha actually, and you know,
so it feels like you get to like live with
(10:49):
your best friend and hang out and then when we're
at work we get to scream at each other on stage.
So it's kind of perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
You have that outlet there. It's so and such a
great story. I will say this, Emily, it was such
a great production. It's a new show. I'm sure like
the growth of this show from this season to next season,
as you guys are going to have different cities that
you're going to play, people are gonna get aware of
this and it's going to be really incredible. But we
appreciate you for spending some time with us to talk
(11:17):
about the show today and we'll definitely be sending people
your way to the Orpheum for the rest of the weekend.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Awesome, Thank you so much, Emory
We always are telling you about great things happening in
the community, and this week a great show that you
may not have heard about, you might not be aware of,
but it is an awesome show at the Orpheum and
it is called Kimberly Akimbo. And joining us is one
of the cast members, Emily Cook, who plays Debra in
the actual play. And first off, Emily, thanks so much
(00:21):
for being on our show today.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Okay, So, the Kimberly at Kimbo is a show that
might be a name that people may not be like,
Oh yeah, that's like my fir lady, right, or that's
like funny girl. Right. This is totally This is a
This is a very new show and I mean you
can tell how contemporary it is based solely on how
the story is written in the dialogue and the song.
(00:45):
So tell me about Kimberly Akimbo as a show.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Kimberly Akimbo is the story about a sixteen year old
girl who has a fictional genetic disorder that ages her
body four to five times natural rate. So she's sixteen,
but she's played by a sixty five year old and
it's kind of about her life in high school and
(01:11):
dealing with a dysfunctional family family, and dealing with making
new friends and falling in like with people and living
your life to the fullest to make sure that you
utilize the time that you have. So it's pretty universal
in that sense that you know, it's stuff we all
go through. It's just through this kind of zany, quirky
(01:34):
lens that makes it really really fun and beautiful.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
This show also was award winning. I made sure to
mention that when I said I was going to Opening
Night the other night, I said, Hey, I this show,
you know, won a handful of Tony's just a couple
of years ago. That has to mean something. What about
this show makes it so easy to consume? Because I mean,
it is a Broadway show, so we know that there's
(01:59):
obviously talent on the stage and in the writing, but
there's something just about the way this story flows that
made it, you know, on the radar. And then one
awards just a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Absolutely, yeah, we won five Tony's, which was so thrilling
and so exciting, and I was lucky enough to be
part of the Broadway cast as well, so that was
an incredible night. But I think It's something that our
director often said was that, you know, Kimberly much like life.
It's like, you know, something becomes a little too sweet,
you throw a little lemon juice on it. Something becomes
(02:32):
a little sour, you throw a little sugar on it.
And so I feel like that's the relatability of the story,
is that life is constantly you know, a balance between
crying and laughing and laughing while crying, and crying while laughing.
And I feel like Kimberly walks that delicate line so
beautifully in a way that people really respond to, which
(02:55):
is really great.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
So we're speaking with Emily Cook, who plays Debra in
the Broadway musical that is in town at the Orphum
called Kimberly Akimbo. You mentioned you were on Broadway with this,
and that's I mean, this is a small cast. I mean,
I think nine people are on the stage in total
throughout this entire you know, musical, which is a difficult
(03:19):
thing to pull off. You know, you might be thinking
about all the big casts and all the different dancers
and singers that many of these other plays that we've
seen at the Orpheum have, but this is a very
tidy cast. That is able to tell this entire story
with just the nine of you, and you guys have also,
you know, been together since the beginning in a lot
of ways. So can you talk about just the continuation
(03:41):
or the continuity that this cast has had from the
Broadway to now the national tour, because we don't usually
get to see a show this fresh, this new, that
still has some of the original cast members a part
of it.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah. Absolutely, it's been I've been in bigger shows like
I did Wicket for years, I did Waitress Tree years,
and there's something so refreshing about walking out there without
you know, we're in street clothes, we're in like I'm
wearing sweatpants and hiking boots the whole show. And there's
something about walking out there with so few people and
(04:16):
just knowing that we're all in service of the same goal,
which you are in big shows too, but I feel
like it's more fractalized, like you know, the dancers are dancing,
the leads are guiding you through the story, the singers
are saying, you know, this is all of us doing
all of it together, and it's really exciting and really
(04:36):
refreshing to be able to look people directly in the
eye and be like, I have done this with you
hundreds of times. You know, it's really been a special experience.
And we're all very very close, which is really really fun.
And it's cool because we're so many different ages, you know,
so like some of my newest best friends are twenty
(04:56):
years older than me or ten years younger than me,
which is really cool thing that Kimberly brings out that's
very specific to this show.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
It's really interesting. Like you mentioned, the lead is you know,
you're talking about a girl who is in high school
of turning sixteen but actually is aging much faster than
the average person. And it adds a lot of you know,
feeling of like what life is and never taking anything
for granted. But you mentioned something that you did before
(05:28):
that I just have to touch on here, and it's Wicked.
You were in Wicked. Can you tell talk to me
about to me about Wicked and how you feel about
seeing that character and what character you played getting all
this publicity on the big screen now in the movies,
and what did you think about that entire thing. Knowing
(05:50):
you have such an intimate relationship with the show.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
That's just been incredible. I mean to see Wicked have
even more reach than it already. Don has just been spectacular,
and like I felt like I wasn't even a person
who had played Alphaba watching the movie. I felt like
I was a fan of the show, like a you know,
a sixteen year old kid watching it for the first time.
(06:15):
So I'm so glad that I thought the movie was
absolutely incredible. I can't wait for the second one. And yeah,
I think it was so interesting. I didn't even feel
like I was a part of it watching it, which
I think, like is the biggest compliment I could possibly give.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Uh So for a clarification for anybody hasn't seen it, Alpha,
but that's like the main character, right, Yes, yeah, it's
like that's the Wicked Witch of the West. That's exactly.
You know, I couldn't imagine, you know, having that big
of a role, and then you see it being performed
like that and just kind of what those emotions would
be like. And now you're in such a completely different
(06:55):
type of role. You're just kind of the crazy ants.
Tell me about Deborah a little bit about how Deborah
kind of is portrayed on the stage with Kimberly Akimbo.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Exactly. Yeah, truly couldn't be more different. Debra is exactly
what you said, your total crazy ant, which I feel
like we all have. She is bombastic, she's bold, you know,
she's brazen, she's funny, she loves her niece, even if
she has a weird wing way of showing it. She
(07:27):
might be a little bit of a criminal. You'll have
to come see the show to see where that factor's in.
But she's pretty inspiring.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Honestly, well, she's hilarious. Emily Cook joining us on our
phone line here, who plays debor in Kimberly Akimbo playing
through the weekend at the Orpheum. One of the great
things about this play is you're not quite sure like
this production has great music. The music goes a long
way to like moving the dialogue along, which also is
(07:58):
you know important. I think for somebody like me who
knew nothing about this show going into it, what about
the music makes it stand out as well because the
songs aren't written like pop songs would be, with you know,
like structured verse chorus, verst chorus, like you would see
when you go to a musical that you know, uses
the music of Abba or something like that. This is
like these are really songs that really push forward the
(08:22):
dialogue and the character development of everybody involved. What about
the music makes it special for this show?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
The music is probably my favorite part. I've been a
huge fan of Jinine Tassori, who wrote the music, and
David Lindsay Abert, who wrote the lyrics for so long,
from all of their other stuff, and it just it
feels like every character has such an individual sound, which
I think is pretty rare in musical these days. Like
(08:50):
you know when Kim is singing, you know when Seth
is singing, you know, endevor singing, Like they all have
such different cadences. And I feel like my music is
really like forward but seductive, but you know, interesting and playful,
and I feel like Kim's is more melancholy and hopeful
(09:12):
and beautiful, and so I just think that that guides
people down the story without us even having to try
to do anything, which is really amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
It definitely for me, it was. It was a huge
part of why the entire musical works was just because
the music moves the story in such interesting places, and
there's certain moments in there that you're listening to a
song and you're not sure if you're supposed to applaud
or not because of the emotion that's kind of been
delivered with that. Now, speaking of emotions exactly, that's what
(09:43):
that's what we want to hear well, And that's the thing.
There was a moment in there, and I don't want
to spoil anything for people who haven't seen the show,
but like a song ended, it was a very clear
end too, a song, and you could hear a pin
drop in the in the orpheum because people just were
not sure. I don't think I'm to clap for that
that was and I don't think you are. It was
(10:03):
just incredible the way that it was performed. But I
wanted to finish up emily because for emotions on your
personal life, you're actually with somebody who care deeply about
on this cast, you haven't been able to get away
from this person who happens to be playing Buddy who
is Kim's dad in the actual show. You guys are
actually dating, Is that right?
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yes? Have been for seven years.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
How does that work? On the road?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Honestly, it's been really great, Like at knock On Wood,
you know, with a Valentine's Stay coming up, I don't
want to jinx anything. But it's been really really great.
We've toured together before. That's how we met was doing
the Waycress tour that came through Omaha actually, and you know,
so it feels like you get to like live with
(10:49):
your best friend and hang out and then when we're
at work we get to scream at each other on stage.
So it's kind of perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
You have that outlet there. It's so and such a
great story. I will say this, Emily, it was such
a great production. It's a new show. I'm sure like
the growth of this show from this season to next season,
as you guys are going to have different cities that
you're going to play, people are gonna get aware of
this and it's going to be really incredible. But we
appreciate you for spending some time with us to talk
(11:17):
about the show today and we'll definitely be sending people
your way to the Orpheum for the rest of the weekend.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Awesome, Thank you so much, Emory
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